From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

 

Another fun floor photography project: Star Wars. Our kids, especially Leia, are beginning to enjoy their parents' favorite saga of all time.

 

And no, we're not going to buy any Star Wars' costumes, props, masks etc. Get the cardboard, papers, markers, glue & the scissors, kids! We're making our own Star Wars props!



We're using kids' bedroom as the floor stage. After watching the movie, we're simulating the scene with cardboard props. We decide to paint the prop later in Photoshop to save time, because the project needs to be done within a day :D

Here are the results:



Leia as Princess Leia herself, Neo as R2D2 & Arwen as C3PO. Leia is using mouth maskers as hair buns, Neo is wearing cardboard costume with a painted plastic bowl on his head & Arwen is wearing cardboard with simple face painting. Backdrop: IKEA fabric design by P. Amsell/B Wesslander 2008.



Princess Leia riding speeder in Endor forest. Speeder was made from cardboard, vacuum cleaner attachment as maneuver control & baloon pump as repulsorlift engine. Backdrop: IKEA fabric design by Helen Trast 2007.

UPDATE:
Our artwork is displayed in a Star Wars event in Bandung SWDBDG June 23rd 2012.


Shared by @gomzgomien - original link.

Playing With Old Nintendo Game Boy

Our findings from Kuwait flea market: Nintendo Game Boy with accessories: Camera & Printer. Though it's has only black & white display, no touch screen, silly sound & bigger than the iPod touch, these old gadgets get our kids attention.

The Camera cartridge has features like picture game, stamp game & basic photo effect. Compare to similar iOS apps, its features is way too basic & primitive for iPad generation kids. But, what they can find it more interesting is the Printer unit. They can make their own photo booth or thumbnail & stick it to their books.



The Printer uses ordinary thermal paper - the same receipt paper from POS or cashier machine - so for experiment, we can use those old receipt papers from our wallet or grocery pouch.

And these are the results. Since the kids are happy with these simple black & white photos, now they're begging for more papers. "We can build our own photo booth & make money from it!"

Not bad for toys from 90s.

Related stories:
Game Boy Camera
Game Boy Printer

Weekend Without Mall

Winter in Kuwait is beautiful. Not too chilly, around 5ºC - 10ºC with sun still bright shine. Time to get out from the mall at the weekend! Time to doing some outdoor activities!

Drawing



Bring the snacks, cookies & drawing tools. We're enjoying the sunshine while drawing in Kuwait Tower park near the beach. Find a spot, unfold the mat and start drawing. Don't forget to drink your juice, kids!





Playground & Amusement Park

The public playgrounds in Kuwait are fantastic. Relatively in good maintenances. Kids always get crazy & having fun for hours.



This is in Marina Beach & the other right is in Applebee beach. Decent playground for kids to waste their time for free.



Or going to the amusement park. Enjoying the view from ferris wheel or rising a horse chariot. Yeehaa!

Instagram



We are planning to introduce the social network to our daughter bit by bit. And we think Instagram is a good start. She can learn about photography, how to take better picture & meets another user (under our authorization & control) from around the world.

Going outside is a perfect time for taking Instagram picture. Great colors, awesome objects & our daughter can learn how to composite a scene with her iPod touch.

Zoo



Another good place to take pictures is the zoo! Kids love the animals, take tons of photo with the iPod touch & bring it home "I HAVE DEER IN MY IPOD TOUCH!"

Those live creatures amaze our kids. They realized that there are another life forms living in this planet & deserve our attention.

Travelling by Bus

Public transportation in Kuwait is not bad. Still better compare to Jakarta, but no commuter train or subway.



Kids were excited doing the bus trips. Though they prefer subway like in Singapore or tram in Istanbul or any other European countries.

Museum



Well. This activity is a bit tricky. Kids have a little interest with musuem, depends on the object though. We bring them to Kuwait traditional sadu textile museum as part of family art & craft experience. Colorful yarns & hand loom machines get their interest "Can we make our own dress with these colorful yarns?" our daughter asks.

Book reading




Reading books in the park & enjoying shawarma. And of course, hot coffee sipping.

So, there are the ideas. Winter is another purpose to ditch the mall & enjoy alternative activities outside. Let's go!

Digital Sketchbook

I never leave home without this sketchbook & always bring it everywhere in my pocket. Waiting is no longer boring.



In the clinic. An old man checking the prescription for his medicine.



In Leia's ballet class. Waiting with other parents (or mothers) :D

Related sketches
- Heroine from TV series
- Ramadan Sketches
- Drawing with G-Note